Central U.S. prepares for stormsAccuWeather Global Weather Center - May 15, 2017 AccuWeather reports following isolated damaging storms Monday night, there will be a heightened risk of dangerous storms across the central and southern Plains late Tuesday into Wednesday. Residents and travelers from Minnesota to Texas will need to monitor the forecast and keep flashlights and weather radios handy over the next several days. Most days this week will feature severe weather somew...

Touch new stamp and presto, total solar eclipse becomes moonCAPE CANAVERAL — The U.S. Postal Service is going all out for this summer's total solar eclipse, with a first-of-its kind stamp. Just touch the stamp with your finger, and the heat transforms the image of the blacked-out sun into the moon. Remove your finger, and the eclipse reappears. The trick is using temperature-sensitive ink. There's a map on the back of the stamp sheet showing the eclipse's diagonal path across the U.S. on Aug. 21, as th...

Daytime Emmy Award winners namedLOS ANGELES -- "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" won the Daytime Emmy Award for best entertainment talk show Sunday, 20 years to the day that her character came out as gay on the sitcom "Ellen." "She did it because it was the right thing to do," said Mary Connelly, "Ellen" executive producer, of DeGeneres' decision to be open about her sexuality and do the same for her character in 1997. DeGeneres was absent and Connelly accepted the award. "General ...

Prince's '80s band kicks off memorial tourMINNEAPOLIS -- For members of Prince's 1980s backing band The Revolution, reuniting and hitting the road for a spring U.S. tour is how they are coping with the "Purple Rain" pop superstar's unexpected death a year ago. "We're taking it to the people who are grieving like we are, and letting them have a little bit of relief," guitarist Wendy Melvoin, sitting on a couch with other members of the band during a break at their Minneapolis rehearsal...

Updated: Police find missing Tennessee girl, arrest suspectNASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A 15-year-old Tennessee girl was rescued near a cabin in a remote part of northern California on Thursday, more than a month after her 50-year-old teacher kidnapped her and set off a nationwide manhunt, authorities said. Health sciences teacher Tad Cummins surrendered to sheriff's deputies without incident in Cecilville, California, hours after they had set up surveillance on his vehicle in the area, the Tennessee Bureau of...

Authorities: Tennessee student, teacher found in CaliforniaNASHVILLE, Tenn. — Authorities say a 15-year-old Tennessee girl who disappeared with her teacher last month has been found safe in California and the teacher has been arrested. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation tweeted Thursday that teacher Tad Cummins had been taken into custody. The agency said it would provide more details in a press conference later. Elizabeth Thomas disappeared from her home near Columbia on March 13. Columbia is abou...

Casino still has Presley items sought in suitLAS VEGAS -- Hundreds of Elvis Presley artifacts and memorabilia are still being held by a Las Vegas casino, a year after the King's estate filed a lawsuit to get those valuables back from a short-lived exhibit. Westgate Las Vegas Resort and Casino's chief operating officer Mark Waltrip said Wednesday that the items -- including stage outfits, jewelry and letters, among other artifacts from the career, home and wedding of Elvis -- remain locke...

Roberts is the 'Most Beautiful'LOS ANGELES -- Julia Roberts is more than just a "Pretty Woman." People magazine has named her the "World's Most Beautiful Woman" for a record fifth time. The magazine announced Roberts' selection on Wednesday. The 49-year-old actress has previously claimed the cover spot in 2010, 2005, 2000 and 1991. Roberts, who won an Academy Award for "Erin Brockovich," says she is "very flattered" by the experience. People's 28th annual "World's Most Beau...

Hydrogen fuel cell cars face obstacle: few fueling stationsDETROIT -- Hydrogen fuel cell cars could one day challenge electric cars in the race for pollution-free roads -- but only if more stations are built to fuel them. Honda, Toyota and Hyundai have leased a few hundred fuel cell vehicles over the past three years, and expect to lease well over 1,000 this year. But for now, those leases are limited to California, which is home to most of the 34 public hydrogen fueling stations in the U.S. Undaunted...

O'Reilly out at Fox News Channel; still denies allegationsNEW YORK -- Fox News Channel's parent company fired Bill O'Reilly on Wednesday following an investigation into harassment allegations, bringing a stunning end to cable news' most popular program and one that came to define the bravado of his network over 20 years. O'Reilly lost his job on the same day he was photographed in Rome shaking the hand of Pope Francis. The downfall of Fox's most popular -- and most lucrative -- personality began with...

US hit IS with largest non-nuclear bomb ever usedWASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. forces in Afghanistan on Thursday struck an Islamic State tunnel complex in eastern Afghanistan with "the mother of all bombs," the largest non-nuclear weapon ever used in combat by the U.S. military, Pentagon officials said. The bomb, known officially as a GBU-43B, or massive ordnance air blast weapon, unleashes 11 tons of explosives. When it was developed in the early 2000s, the Pentagon did a formal review of legal ju...

Ford says hybrid police car catches bad guys, saves gas tooDEARBORN, Mich. — The next time the cops chase you down for speeding, they could be driving a fuel-efficient gas-electric hybrid. Ford Motor Co., which sells more police vehicles in the U.S. than any other automaker, says it will offer a police pursuit version of the hybrid Fusion midsize sedan, in response to requests from cities nationwide. The new car, with its 2-Liter four-cylinder engine and 1.4 kilowatt lithium-ion battery, is expected t...

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By TOM KRISHER and MIKE HOUSEHOLDER, Associated PressAssociated Press

Liz Weston: Are you financially healthy?Traditional financial literacy efforts haven't been a rousing success. Research from Harvard Business School shows that even Americans who are taught personal finance in school don't seem to save more or manage credit better than anyone else. That's why many experts concerned about Americans' money habits — including regulators such as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and financial think tanks such as the Center for Financial Services ...

Demand booming on college campuses for creative writingNEW HAVEN, Conn. — Some credit the rise of social media. Others attribute it to a flourishing culture of self-expression. Whatever the reason, colleges across the United States are seeing a boom in demand for courses on creative writing. Colleges are adding writing programs to accommodate interest in what has become the rarest of fields in the humanities — a sector that is growing, rather than losing students to science and technology. The num...

California governor declares historic drought over _ for nowFRESNO, Calif. — Thirsty California lawns faded to brown from a lack of water in four extraordinarily dry years have revived to bright green in neighborhoods across the state. Dry riverbeds of sand and tumbleweeds that snake their way through farmers' fields now charge with water swelling up their banks. Scenes like these and many others prompted California Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday to declare an end to the state's drought emergency that had ...

Housing options help autistic adults find independenceDALLAS — Masha Gregory was nervous to move out of her parents' home and into her own place, where the 26-year-old Pennsylvania woman worried about making friends and being away from her parents. But after living in her own apartment at a complex that focuses on adults with autism, she's made new friends and found she loves her independence. "It was great to move out because I have my own life now," said Gregory, who lives in a Pittsburgh-area ...

Charleston church shooter pleads guilty to state chargesCHARLESTON, S.C.— Convicted Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof was given nine consecutive life sentences in state prison after he pleaded guilty to state murder charges Monday, leaving him to await execution in a federal prison and sparing his victims and their families the burden of a second trial. Judge J.C. Nicholson imposed the sentences following a hearing in which church members and Roof's grandfather testified about the personal toll...

Thousands march for immigrant rights in Dallas DALLAS— Thousands of people marched and rallied in downtown Dallas on Sunday to call for an overhaul of the nation's immigration system and end to what organizers said is an aggressive deportation policy. Organizers who called Sunday's event the "Dallas Mega March" said President Donald Trump's executive orders restricting travel from predominantly Muslim countries in the Middle East are discriminatory. They also want an end to hate crimes and...

Gorsuch pledges to be 'servant' of ConstitutionWASHINGTON— The Latest on the swearing-in of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court (all times local): 11:22 a.m. Justice Neil Gorsuch is thanking his former law clerks, family and friends as he is sworn into the Supreme Court during a White House ceremony. Gorsuch says of his former law clerks, "your names are etched in my heart forever." The new justice joined President Donald Trump, members of the nation's high court and his family for a Rose Ga...

Officials: Teacher, 2 students shot at San Bernardino schoolSAN BERNARDINO, Calif.— Four people were shot Monday in an apparent murder-suicide inside an elementary school classroom in San Bernardino, including a teacher and two students, police and school officials said. Two students were airlifted to a hospital after what's believed to be a domestic dispute, San Bernardino City Unified School District spokeswoman Maria Garcia tells news station KNBC-TV. San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said ...